Former Seventh-Day Adventist Church Forcibly Demolished in Liaoning Province (PHOTOS)

Thursday, April 18, 2013

China Aid Association (Shenyang, Liaoning–April 18, 2013) A former Seventh-Day Adventist Church in northeast China’s Liaoning province that was later taken over by the official Three-Self Church has been forcibly demolished after the government sold it to real estate developers.

The demolition of the Beilimen Church, next to the Hang Lung Plaza at Shenyang's Xiao Beimen in Liaoning province, began at about 1:30 p.m. on April 12. When it ended, all that was left was a shed. The church duty office was pushed over by an front-loader operated by seven or eight men in their 30s dressed in blue uniforms but with no identifying badges and who looked like hooligans.

Additionally, two women believers, one middle-aged and one nearly 70 years old, who were in the shed were forcibly dragged out and their cellphones were snatched from them so that they were unable to notify anyone or call for help.

The Beilimen Church in Shenyang was originally a Seventh-Day Adventist Church that was founded during China's 1911-1949 Republican era and was later taken over and used by the official Three-Self Church. But the government-controlled Three-Self Church has now sold this property to real estate developers, which is why the April 12 altercation over the forced demolition occurred. Although the Seventh-Day Adventist denomination has been criticized by some mainstream denominations since its founding in the 19th century and even been labeled heretical, a reformed branch emerged in more recent times that has been accepted by mainstream Christianity.

ChinaAid upholds the church's orthodoxy and is committed to monitoring churches under persecution in China and to providing necessary aid, as well as to defending the right to religious freedom of all Chinese citizens.

"Bob Fu has dedicated his life to bringing freedom of religion to the Chinese people. His story is a testimony to the power of faith and an inspiration to people struggling to break free from oppression." —Mrs. Laura Bush